Irish star set to play music legend Buddy Holly in new biopic

Irish actor Ruairi O'Connor will play Buddy Holly in an upcoming biopic about the rock 'n' roll legend. 

O'Connor, who played a young Henry VIII in the Starz miniseries "The Spanish Princess," will star in "Clear Lake," which is slated to begin production next spring. 

Producers and casting directors at Presser/ Well Casting selected the Irish star after a rigorous six-month selection process because he resembled Holly and could also perform his most famous songs. 

The upcoming biopic will be directed by Bruce Beresford, who received Oscar nominations for directing "Tender Mercies" and for Best Adapted Screenplay for writing "Breaker Morant." Beresford also directed "Driving Miss Daisy" which scooped the 1990 Oscar for Best Picture. 

Rick French and Stuart Benjamin, the biopic's producers, said that thousands of people auditioned for the role of Holly. 

"We looked at hundreds and hundreds of audition tapes for the Buddy Holly role and interviewed some tremendously talented actors and musicians but Ruairi’s audition really stood out," French told Variety. 

"He’s a terrific young actor who exudes charisma and he’s also a very accomplished musician who our team believes can handle this very challenging role." 

"Clear Lake," with O'Connor as the lead, will tell the story of how Buddy Holly and other prominent music stars of the 1950s gave birth to rock 'n' roll and helped to transform civil rights in America. 

The film's name is a nod to Holly's infamous death, which occurred in a plane crash just outside Clear Lake, Iowa, on Feb. 3, 1959. A number of famous 50s rock 'n' roll stars perished in the plane crash, including Ritchie Valens and "The Big Bopper" in an event that later became known as "the day the music died" thanks to Don McClean's "American Pie".

The biopic is being developed by Prix Productions, Stuart Benjamin Productions, and BMG, which manages Holly estate and owns the American publishing rights of his catalog.